No Defense appropriation until December?

posted at 12:55 pm on October 26, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

Democrats have a majority in the House with more than 70 seats over the Republicans. Appropriations can’t be filibustered in the Senate, but even if they could, Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority in the upper chamber. Passing a budget is the basic responsibility of Congressional leadership, and it was due on September 30th. In wartime, the annual defense appropriation should have the highest priority over all of the other appropriation bills that comprise the federal budget plan. The Democrats have one of their own in the Oval Office, Barack Obama, who has shown no inclination at all to interfere with Congressional leadership on legislation, not even on his highest domestic agenda priorities.

So when will this Congress get around to a conference vote on the Pentagon’s appropriation? December:

Some lawmakers are growing antsy over the delay by House Democratic leaders in moving the 2010 defense appropriations conference report to a vote.

Rep. James Moran (D-Va.), a senior defense appropriator, told The Hill on Friday that the vote on the conference “possibly” will not happen until December. …

The House leadership is expected to meet with President Barack Obama next week to discuss the strategy for the pending appropriations bills.

Meanwhile, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the Senate Appropriations Chairman, said in a short interview with The Hill that conference negotiations between the two chambers are proceeding. He also expressed confidence that the 2010 Pentagon-spending bill “will pass very soon.”

Well, don’t feel like you have to rush anything, you know. It’s not like there’s a war on, or that it’s your job or anything. Oh, wait ….

This goes directly to leadership and competence. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi missed last year’s budget deadline on purpose, to cut George Bush out of the loop. This year, they have no such excuse. They have had all year to work on the FY2010 budget. We have been at war since 9/11, and the Defense appropriation should have been passed well before the October start to the fiscal year.

If Reid and Pelosi can’t get Job 1 accomplished in 2009, voters should do their best to ensure that Democrats don’t have the opportunity to screw up any more budgets in the future.

Blowback

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Comments

This is like telling your spouse to go take care of the prowler downstairs, after they take away your gun and put a blind fold around your eyes. It`s leaving our brave men and woman to basically fend for themselves.

On a lighter note, a caption for that pic of Pelosi, “E.T. phone, hooooooooome!”

As a defense contractor I can tell you the fall out of these delays and confirm they are happening. Because the Democrat controlled congress cannot get their act together, my company has been put on notice that we are working each month “at risk”. In essence, we have to pay our employees out of pocket until the government provides the money they are legally obligated to pay us. This will happen at least for the next two months while they dither about the budget. That means our companies will not be able to use those assets elsewhere to hire more bodies, improve employee benefits, etc. They dither and private companies suffer.